Book of Common Prayer
Mem
97 Oh how (A)I love your law!
It is my (B)meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me (C)wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for (D)your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than (E)the aged,[a]
for I (F)keep your precepts.
101 I (G)hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
103 How (H)sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore (I)I hate every false way.
Nun
105 (J)Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have (K)sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to keep your (L)righteous rules.
107 I am severely (M)afflicted;
(N)give me life, O Lord, according to your word!
108 Accept (O)my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,
and (P)teach me your rules.
109 I hold my life (Q)in my hand continually,
but I do not (R)forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid (S)a snare for me,
but (T)I do not stray from your precepts.
111 Your testimonies are (U)my heritage forever,
for they are (V)the joy of my heart.
112 I (W)incline my heart to perform your statutes
forever, (X)to the end.[b]
Samekh
113 I hate (Y)the double-minded,
but I love (Z)your law.
114 You are my (AA)hiding place and my (AB)shield;
I (AC)hope in your word.
115 (AD)Depart from me, you evildoers,
that I may (AE)keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me (AF)according to your promise, that I may live,
and let me not be (AG)put to shame in my (AH)hope!
117 (AI)Hold me up, that I may be safe
and have regard for your statutes continually!
118 You (AJ)spurn all who (AK)go astray from your statutes,
for their cunning is in vain.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like (AL)dross,
therefore (AM)I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh (AN)trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.
Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
To the choirmaster: according to (A)The Gittith.[a] Of (B)Asaph.
81 (C)Sing aloud to God our strength;
(D)shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2 Raise a song; sound (E)the tambourine,
(F)the sweet lyre with (G)the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at (H)the new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule[b] of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it (I)a decree in (J)Joseph
when he (K)went out over[c] the land of Egypt.
(L)I hear a language (M)I had not known:
6 “I (N)relieved your[d] shoulder of (O)the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you (P)called, and I delivered you;
I (Q)answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I (R)tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 (S)Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no (T)strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a (U)foreign god.
10 (V)I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
(W)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel (X)would not submit to me.
12 So I (Y)gave them over to their (Z)stubborn hearts,
to follow their own (AA)counsels.
13 (AB)Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would (AC)walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and (AD)turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would (AE)cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you[e] with (AF)the finest of the wheat,
and with (AG)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Rescue the Weak and Needy
A Psalm of (AH)Asaph.
82 (AI)God (AJ)has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of (AK)the gods he (AL)holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and (AM)show partiality to (AN)the wicked? Selah
3 (AO)Give justice to (AP)the weak and the fatherless;
(AQ)maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 (AR)Rescue the weak and the needy;
(AS)deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 (AT)They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
(AU)they walk about in darkness;
(AV)all the foundations of the earth are (AW)shaken.
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. (A)And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then (B)the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.
26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they (C)had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And (D)Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, (E)stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? (F)Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
Quail and a Plague
31 Then a (G)wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits[a] above the ground. 32 And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten (H)homers.[b] And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33 (I)While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and (J)the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. 34 Therefore the name of that place was called (K)Kibroth-hattaavah,[c] because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35 (L)From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to (M)Hazeroth, and they remained at (N)Hazeroth.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, (A)God gave them up to (B)a debased mind to do (C)what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know (D)God's righteous decree that those who practice such things (E)deserve to die, they not only do them but (F)give approval to those who practice them.
God's Righteous Judgment
2 Therefore you have (G)no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For (H)in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on (I)the riches of his kindness and (J)forbearance and (K)patience, (L)not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are (M)storing up (N)wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 (O)He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who (P)by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking[a] and (Q)do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress (R)for every human being who does evil, the Jew (S)first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and (T)peace for everyone who does good, (U)the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For (V)God shows no partiality.
Who Is the Greatest?
18 (A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you (B)turn and (C)become like children, you (D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the (F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but (H)whoever causes one of these (I)little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Temptations to Sin
7 “Woe to the world for (J)temptations to sin![b] (K)For it is necessary that temptations come, (L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into (N)the eternal fire. 9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the (P)hell[c] of fire.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.